London Bridge businesses collect over 2,500 gifts for local charities as Santa swaps his sleigh for cargo bikes

What makes a community? If it’s shared values and a desire to pull together to help friends and neighbours then London Bridge businesses have community spirit in abundance.

Over 40 businesses collected 2,524 gifts that had been donated by their staff for our London Bridge Community Christmas Campaign, including those based in The Shard and London Bridge City, as well as neighbouring Bermondsey and Shad Thames. Team London Bridge champions this year were Norton Rose Fulbright and PwC, each sending hundreds of presents over.

All deliveries were made using cargo bikes, removing over 20 van journeys from the road and cutting down on polluting emissions.  BBC Radio London and London Live came down to see the spectacle in action.  

In a mission akin to Santa’s present distribution operation, Team London Bridge asked nine Southwark charities what gifts their groups would really want to receive and coordinated the businesses to collect the types of items that will make a difference to people this Christmas.

This year’s recipients were Bede House, Stones End Day Centre, Time and Talents, Beormund Centre, Southwark Care Leavers Partnership, Look Ahead Southwark Young People Service, Riverside Parents and Carers Association, South London Mission, and Oasis Hub Waterloo.

The Community Christmas Campaign benefits a wide range of people including those experiencing homelessness, the elderly, young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and those who struggle with mental health issues.

Having fulfilled the charities’ wish lists, 944 extra presents were given to the Met Police’s Christmas Tree Appeal.

Norton Rose Fulbright

Although most presents came wrapped, we received help from over 20 volunteers to make the rest of the donations tree-ready. They dedicated a whole day to wrapping and sorting presents and were even too busy to eat mince pies – another campaign first!  

Nadia Broccardo, Chief Executive at Team London Bridge, said

Each year we are wowed by the generosity of our businesses and their desire to help all members of the community enjoy their Christmas. A big change this year has been the enthusiastic use of cargo bikes to courier donations as more and more businesses switch their delivery methods to less polluting, green methods.’